Invisible Blessings

“Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. But one Sunday morning, the weather was so dank and gloomy that the church members said among themselves, “Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything to thank the Lord for on such a wretched day.” Much to their surprise, however, Whyte stepped to the pulpit that dreary morning and began by praying, “We thank Thee, Lord, that it is not always like this.”

How are you on the scale of how grateful you are as a person? Do you score way up high or are you failing miserably when it comes to remembering to give thanks to God on a regular basis? For the good and the bad.

I’ve been doing some study today on this subject of true Christian gratitude for our next Ladies Bible Study and it has me thinking about how many blessings we experience without even realising it. It also has me feeling convicted for my lack of thankfulness.

Did you know there are invisible blessings? There are blessings that only show themselves by not showing up.

What do I mean by that?

Think about it. How many kilometres has your car gone without getting a flat tyre? How many years have you driven without being in an accident? What about that big tree in the front yard that has never dropped a damaging branch onto your house or car? Or maybe a very scary medical condition that you have never had to face, although you know many personally who have. Or maybe it’s God’s hand of protection over you when you didn’t even realise you were in danger.

These are blessings hiding in plain sight.

We have so many blessings showered upon us that we can’t even see or imagine. The goodness of God is so abundant.

1 Corinthians 2:9 - But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

God has done so much for us, and he blesses us every day. Whether they are evident or not, they are there. We can’t even fathom the depths of God’s love for us and the things he has prepared for us and saved us from.

Often times the reason we don’t see the blessing is because we are too focused on the burden. We have chosen to dwell on all the negative things we see in our lives, letting them sit at the forefront of our minds, when if we changed our view and looked at things from a different perspective, a heavenly perspective, with gratefulness in our hearts, our eyes would be opened, and the blessings would be revealed.

God wants to grow a thankful spirit in the heart of every person. He longs for us to remember that he is the giver of all things and the very breath we breathe, comes from him.

In order to recognize what God gives, we have to have our heart open and alert. We need to be on the lookout for blessings. Make it a treasure hunt. Purpose in your heart to take time each day to express your thankfulness to God. Whether you physically write a list or verbally say it out loud, it’s a good habit to get into. Then pray over this list, thanking God for each and every one.

Start your day by focusing on the goodness of God rather than the problems you know you will face and the challenges that await you.

And bit by bit, as you make this a regular practice, you will find yourself happier, more content and at peace.

God knew what he was doing when he put so many precious passages in the Bible on the subject of praise and worship and thankfulness. He knew that in order for us to live life more abundant, we would need to cultivate a heart of gratitude.

As we bring our praise to God, we are drawn closer to him. We grow in our relationship with him, and we are able to experience sweet communion with the giver of life, the creator, sustainer, saviour, redeemer and friend.

Start today, practicing gratefulness. And watch your happiness and contentment grow.

Take time to thank God for the little things. The seemingly insignificant things. The beautiful things. The hard things. The things difficult to understand. Everything.

It is God’s will that we be thankful.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Look for those invisible blessings, and whether you see them or not, thank God for them. If you make gratitude a part of your life, not just a few words briefly prayed when things are going right, but thankfulness overflowing from your lips, as natural as breathing, the blessings will be revealed, and you will marvel once again at God’s goodness.

Psalm 106:1  Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD;

 for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

 

 

 

 Who Am I?

I realized, after gaining some new followers recently, that I should probably re introduce myself to anyone who doesn’t know me.

I’m a wife of 27 years, a mother of 5 daughters, and a grandmother of 7. But most important of all, I AM A CHILD OF GOD! Saved. Redeemed. Justified. Forgiven. Blessed. Chosen! 

I have a passion for sharing God’s Word and trying to explain what I learn, in a simple, tell it like it is, yet loving fashion.

This was not always the case. For years I was happy just coasting along in my Christian walk, raising 5 girls under the age of 7, home schooling, teaching Sunday School, playing the piano for church, working in Youth Ministry, but not really growing in my Christian walk. I wasn’t searching out the scriptures in my own quiet time or digging deeper to find the precious truths held there.  

But God has ways of changing our lives for the better. He brought me through years of illness that left me depleted of energy, drained physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He was longsuffering with me and stayed beside me through all the hard times, despite my faithless, complaining, sad and sorry state.  

And, being a slow learner, he has had to take me through several seasons of growth through trial.

I began a family blog back in 2013, when our family first moved to Katherine, NT, where we still live today, as a way to connect with my family and friends and send them photos of our life and adventures here. And what an adventure it has been.

What started as a family arriving with all their belongings in a bright red truck, an old 60 series Landcruiser a camper trailer, a car trailer and a Hiace van, with 5 daughters in tow, ages ranging from 10 to 17, living in a motel room for 3 and a half months, to present day with 3 daughters married, 3 great sons-in-law, 7 adorable grandchildren and 2 grown daughters living at home but independent and growing in the Lord and serving him in the church! What a ride the last 9 and a half years it has been.

I have gone from being a stay-at-home mum, home schooling, baking, taking photographs, sewing etc to owning a Transport Company with my husband, learning to drive a truck, learning to drive a bigger truck, then learning and getting my license driving Road Trains and becoming the most unordinary Grandma this family has ever seen!

It’s amazing how God works. If you had told me 9 years ago that this is what I’d be doing right now, I would have laughed out loud! I pictured myself, happily sewing and baking and spending time with Grandkids on my knee, singing to them, dancing across the kitchen, teaching them silly songs and waiting on the verandah for hubby to come home after work, with dinner bubbling away on the stove.

Well………okay, so maybe I do do a lot of these things. But not quite the way I pictured it. My days and nights look nothing like what I had planned, but they are what God has planned for this season of my life, and who am I to disagree with the Creator of the Universe and the Saviour of my soul!

So here I am, working most days, either driving a road train, or maybe a small truck or ute, lifting heavy boxes and delivering them around town, tying down loads of hay, shifting things around with a forklift, loading and unloading, sweating it out in 38 degree heat, dry, dusty, dirty and yet strangely enough, happy with where God has put me!

I still get to spend time with family and hold those precious grandchildren, I find a little time for hobbies and I’m able to prepare meals for my family, it just requires a lot of juggling and prioritizing and a whole lot of prayer asking God for wisdom for my days.

God has worked in my heart in a big way the past few years. He has given me a passion for women’s ministry and a desire to be an encouragement to others, teaching through writing and speaking wherever and whenever I have the opportunity, longing to share with others what God has taught me through the trials he has brought me through and to give hope to others struggling in their Christian walk or just in need of a word of encouragement straight from the pages of God’s Word.

As the desire to serve in this way grew, I decided to start a second blog, Learn. Live. Love. Share. (learnliveloveshare.blogspot.com) devoted completely to writing about my Christian walk and sharing what God teaches me through his Word.  

Having gone through long illness, depression, anxiety and panic attacks, I felt that I needed to write and encourage others that they too could make it through with God’s help. Sometimes we go through things so that we can help others in their time of need. God can use our trials and testings, our failings and our victories to speak to others.

And so, I pray that as my posts pop up in your feed on social media, that you don’t just click ‘like’ because you like the photo or the quote or the verse, but I pray that you would actually read the content, not because I have finesse or am eloquent or have great knowledge, but because I am writing to encourage, to inspire, to convict at times, to lift up, to bring hope and to share what God shows me through his Word.

We are all going through things, and we are all in different seasons of our lives and we just never know how God is going to work through something we say or share. If God has showed us something through his Word, or if we have gone through a difficult time in our lives and God has brought us miraculously through, we need to encourage others and give them the hope that they too can make it through those hard days and that God will be there to guide them.

So, please don’t be content to just ‘like’ pretty pictures, but take time to read the whole post, and not just mine, there are many others with the same passion as me, take the time to sit and read and meditate on the Word of God.

And please feel free to comment and share if what you read has helped you or what God has taught you through his Word. We really never know whose lives we can touch and the help we can bring by just being willing to speak up and let others know that God is a good God, and he is faithful, and he sees you right where you’re at and he loves you and cares about you and longs to hear your voice.

God bless,

Jill

 

Philippians 1:9-11

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

 

What are you Resting in?

Does anyone else feel like they’re living life TIRED? Do you go through your days just longing for night to come so you can get some much-needed rest? Do you ever have so much to do and so many ideas and plans for things to do, but not enough energy or hours in the day to do it all?

If you find yourself in this place, then rest assured, you are not alone.

The tiring season of babies, late night feedings, toddlers and home-schooling turn into long days of other occupations, whether at home or at work. It really never ends, and sometimes we can begin to question God’s goodness.

“God, I want to live faithfully and serve you with all my heart, soul and body and yet I’m so tired. How am I supposed to do all you’ve called me to do when I’m so tired? Why aren’t you giving me boundless energy to be able to serve you more effectively?”

Often, we feel like we would be able to shine more brightly for the Lord and be a better reflection of him if only we had more time, more rest, more sleep, more energy and the list goes on.

And yes, having more of those things may very well prepare us better for our daily struggles and the endless tasks we face each day, but God wants us to rest in him and find our strength in him.

Victory is found in relying on his strength. Victory is found in finding ourselves totally depleted and being forced to utterly depend upon him.

I was struck by a very convicting quote recently:

“My confidence is not in how well-rested I am,

but in how well I am resting in Christ.”

Often, we place all our confidence in our energy levels and how much we can achieve because of how we feel. If we feel rested, we can take on the world.

But it’s not about how rested I am and how well and energized I feel, it’s all about how much I am relying on God’s strength and how well I rest in him. This is where we can gain confidence. We can’t rely on our own strength; we have to rely on him. We have to trust and rest in him.

If we are trusting in him, although we may feel tired and depleted, he will give us the strength to do the things he has called us to do.

Psalm 18:32 KJV - It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

Maybe the reason you are feeling weary and worn is because you are busy doing things that he has not called you to do. Maybe you’re wearing yourself out doing a task that God wants someone else to do. Just because there is a need, doesn’t mean God wants you to fill it. We have to be in tune with him, walking close to him, seeking his guidance and wisdom so we know when to step up, and when to take a step back.

Maybe it’s a case of not listening for his still, small voice, as he gently calls you to stop and rest and give him your burdens.

There are many reasons for tiredness, and sometimes it’s simply poor eating choices, or not taking time out for rest, or sickness or a myriad of other things, but I do know that God calls us to rest and to rest in him. He longs for us to stop and sit at his feet, just as Mary did and was commended by the Lord Jesus for doing so.

Proverbs 18:10 KJV - The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

God is our strong tower, and we can run to him as many times as we need. I feel as though I am in a perpetual season of busyness at this point in my life, and I have to force myself to stop. To sit. To rest.

Often it means putting aside something urgent for something important. The urgent screams for our attention, but often the important is quieter, a soft prompting, a gentle leading, and if we’re too busy, we won’t hear it.

We have to learn to make the most of those moments we’re given where we have a few minutes of quiet. It might mean putting aside your phone, or leaving the dishes in the sink, or letting the washing in the machine sit a little longer, just so you can spend a few minutes communing with the Lord, listening to him and sharing what is on your heart, reading his Word and meditating on what you read.

The busier you are, the more important it is to take times of rest. If you don’t force yourself to stop, it won’t happen until your body or your mental state forces you to stop. (Believe me, I know this from experience!)

Make the most of those God-given opportunities. I really believe that’s what they are. God-given opportunities. It’s not coincidence or luck. It’s also not because we are so good at prioritizing. God can cause our plans to go awry at any moment, and yet he often chooses to give us little windows of time, hoping that we will use them wisely to sit at his feet.

People often ask me how I find time to write and study. Honestly, I don’t. It finds me. And by that, I mean, that God finds me. He gives me those little moments. He gives me a day off work I didn’t expect, or a couple hours of quiet because of plans being cancelled, or a few  minutes of solitude early in the morning before the rush of the day begins.

It all comes down to choice. We have to choose what we do with our quiet moments. I am not perfect, by any means, and sometimes I sit and aimlessly scroll on my phone, letting my brain go into dull mode, or I sit and play the piano, letting the music wash over my soul and calm my thoughts. And sometimes we need that. But the most needed thing, the ‘one needful thing’ (Luke 10:42), is to rest in Christ and to sit at his feet and learn from him. We have to place our confidence in how well we are resting in him, NOT in how rested we feel.

God knows our desires. He understands the longings of our hearts and whether we are excited to do what he has called us to do. And he will give us the strength, the time and the energy to work for him and to serve others as we yield ourselves to him and rest in him.

Isaiah 40:29-31 KJV - He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Give your tiredness to him. Let him renew your strength, let him give you the power you need. He will give you wings when you rest in him.

Rest. Trust. Obey and watch what God can do!

 

 

 

 

The One Needed Thing

As Christian women, daughters, mothers, grandmothers, we all know the struggle it is to make time each day to spend alone with the Lord. We all battle with feeling pressured, rushed and anxious. We never seem to have enough time. There are just not enough hours in the day. We’ve all said it before, and we’ve all felt it.

William Penn once said, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”

We can become plagued with guilt over not having enough time to spend with our families, with our husbands, on our careers, on our hobbies. But what about not having enough time to spend in quality time alone with God?

Can we ever really say, “I don’t have enough time?”

Who decided how many hours in the day we needed? God. Who directs the sun and the moon and their risings and settings? God.

So, who are we to say we don’t have enough time? We know that it is a matter of choice and it’s a matter of priorities and what or who it is we put first on our list. We make time for what we love. Read that again. We make time for what we love.

We all know who and what it should be. God is to be our highest priority. God must be our first love. He must be at the top. He must be the one we run to before anyone else. God is to be the foundation we build all other relationships on.

In our all too busy lives, we often neglect our relationship with the Lord. It gets put on the back burner. Yes, we’ve been redeemed, and we trust the Lord to supply our needs and protect our families. We give thanks for our food, we go to church, but how much time do we really give to God each day? How much time do we spend in prayer, in study, in reading His Word? How much time do we spend each day, quietly meditating on His Word, listening for His voice, pouring out our hearts to Him?

For any relationship to flourish, we must spend time on it. If we want a closer relationship with God, we must spend time talking to Him in prayer, learning about His character through the Word of God, listening, waiting, obeying, loving and learning from him.

I have many favourite women in the Bible that I love to read about, but two women I find very relatable are Mary and Martha. Mary’s heart and Martha’s hands. Yes, for most of my Christian life, I was more of a Martha than a Mary, but I’ve come to realise that both are needed. But, although they are both needed, there is ‘one thing’ that is needful, more than any other.

Luke 10:38-42 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

In this passage we see the ‘one thing’. What is the ‘one thing’ you must do today? What is the one thing that is needed?

As mothers and wives, we are often pulled in every direction. We have huge to-do lists. And the things on our lists are often very important, but the one thing I need to do today, the most urgent thing on my list, is to keep my relationship with God a priority. To sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from His Word.

That one thing we need to do today and every day, is to pray and read the Word of God.  We can’t physically sit at Jesus feet, as Mary was able to do, but we have His Word, and we have the wonderful gift of prayer and being able to talk to God.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The Bible tells us in Matthew that we are to seek God first. First. Before our to-do list takes over. In order to develop a closer relationship with the Lord, He must be the one we go to first. And not only first, but regularly.

I love the verses in the Bible that encourage us to come to him often.

Psalms 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Even the Lord Jesus rose early to talk to the Father

Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

In the morning.

Psalms 119:62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.

At midnight.

I often find that the wakeful times I experience in the middle of the night are some of my most profitable prayer times. There is nothing to distract me from communing with the Lord. Like the saying goes, “When you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep, talk to the Shepherd”

Martha often gets a bad rap, but she was very hospitable. Jesus didn’t usually come visiting alone, she had to serve the disciples as well and often a myriad of curious onlookers and followers. She was a hospitable host. Running back and forth serving. But the Bible tells us she was cumbered. It’s not a word we use much in our modern language, but a word I can absolutely relate to!

Luke 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving

In the Greek, this word cumbered has the idea “to drag all around” or “to distract”. She was distracted and dragged down with much serving. MUCH serving. Would less have been more? Could she have done more with less?

Often, we are dragged down with much serving. Running back and forth, in and out, over and under and so it goes. We are run ragged. Stressed. Fretful. Anxious. Worn out.

But where do we find Mary? Mary is sitting at Jesus feet. It says that she “also” sat and heard His Word. So, others were sitting at His feet too. Why wasn’t Martha? Mary had chosen that ‘one thing’ that was needed, sitting at Jesus feet. Putting God first.                                                                

I have come to recognize that we need a balance of both Mary and Martha. Both are needed. There are times that we must be hospitable and serve others. We read of the Proverbs 31 woman and her servant’s spirit,

Proverbs 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

and we know that God looked on her with favour, but we also read that a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised. And that fear has to do with reverence. Bowing down in worship before God.

Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

In the story of Mary and Martha, our attention is drawn to Martha’s hands and Mary’s heart. Both are necessary in a woman’s life, and both are needed. But the order is what is most important. We must first sit at Jesus feet, and then rise to serve Him.

Sitting, then standing. Priorities and progress.

The one thing we must do, is to put God first. Then everything else will fall into place. That doesn’t mean your days will be perfect. God orders our days differently to how we order them.

God honours our time and helps us to be more productive, when we come to him first. We don’t have to control the day’s events. Hand them over to God and let him decide what’s best. Let God prioritize your lists of to-dos. Give your lists to God. And give him your cares.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

We pour our hearts and our energies into our families, and that's a good thing, but is it the best thing? Whatever it is that we pour our hearts into, whatever occupies our thoughts or becomes a priority in our lives over that of loving God, is something we are putting above God and it is unfaithfulness and sin.

Putting our husbands above God or our children above God or our clean house or our careers above God, will always lead to disappointment.

Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

God has set the order for our priorities. God first. Everything else afterwards.

When our relationship with God breaks down, our relationships with people, break down.

The one thing we need is God’s Word, and the one person we need to put first, is God.

Our relationship with the Lord is of great importance. God is the foundation we build our lives upon. It needs to be a strong foundation. Developing a closer relationship with Him should be our utmost priority.

Make God your priority. Make your relationship with Him the most important thing. Everything else will crumble around you if you don’t take the time to work on this relationship. The Word of God is your life manual. And don’t neglect prayer. Prayer and the reading of God’s Word go hand in hand.

Reach for that ‘one thing’ that is needful today. For just a little while, somewhere in your day, forget about the many things and work on that one thing. Put your cares aside and spend time alone with the only one who knows all your troubles and can carry all your burdens. Sit at Jesus’ feet and your time will not be wasted.